It's okay, Reagan
by stilljustme
Summary: I just saw the clip from 3x22 and...oh. My. Vinny's last moments. More Vinny than Jamie but since you can't tag Vinny...


_Okay…I may not really have got Vinny right. Actually, I might have got him extremely wrong since I've just seen two short clips with him. So please if this scene is totally OOC, tell me and I'll delete it. But I just couldn't not write anything about it._

„I got him Reagan, I got him!" This was his day. He wouldn't fail again. Vinny ran faster than he had ever run since the academy. It was only half past eleven and he already wanted this day to be over. Even if that meant that Jamie'd be upset for Vinny leaving him behind so he had no backup. Who cared? That was the job. That's what they lived for, and died for. Vinny had got used to his partner's extreme caution – that quickly ended when it came down to Jamie himself being without backup, no complaining about that – but that didn't mean he understood it. Yes, Reagan had lost his brother to the streets, and yes, this was a hard thing to cope with, especially when you were reminded of how fast bullets can fly everyday, but for heaven's sake –he wasn't the only one who had lost somebody he loved! And nobody had forced Jamie to become a cop, too! And Vinny wasn't his brother, he was his partner. Forced to trust him with his life, yes, but that didn't mean he had to like the other one. Not always, at least.  
Vinny ran faster than he had ever run.

The place was empty. Houses, bleak windows, wind. Vinny cursed under his breath as he pulled his gun. "Where's everybody?" Not that way. He needed a victory, he needed to be good this time.  
Jamie scanned the area with more concern than anger. Of course he did.  
„Vinny, it's a setup, come on."

A shot rang.

Vinny heard his heart beat loudly as Jamie fell to the ground. That couldn't be! Come on, that couldn't be, he couldn't lose Reagan, not now, not him, not…

The next shot seemed to miss. Vinny heard it but didn't see Jamie jerk again, nor did he feel anything. Why was the ground coming nearer? Who was wheezing there, was it Jamie? Come on, he couldn't be dead!  
As he saw Jamie crawling for the wall, time set in again. Jamie was alive, Vinny realized. At least he hadn't lost his partner. Bullets flew through the air, something hot was running down his chest. Second realization: He was the one wheezing. And he would be the one to die.

Die, alone on the cold street, surrounded by shots and echoes of steps and embraced only be the icy darkness of death. Vinny couldn't breathe, both filled with blood and fear. He was alone. After all they'd learned about backup and brothers and fighting for the greater good, shouldn't there be more to death than just being alone? Darkness grew at the edges, and for the first time in his life Vinny was scared of dying. He didn't want to be alone anymore, not now.

"Vinny!" Jamie stared over to him, shocked, desperate, yet so clear and so warm that it burnt the cold away. Vinny cried. He needed to tell Jamie to stay put till it was over. There was nothing to be done anymore. The ice-cold fear that for a moment had taken the better of him was gone. He wasn't alone. He'd never be.

The bullets still flew and Vinny felt his body go cold, not with fear but with death nearing. So be it. That was the job. He heard his partner shout something into the radio but didn't understand the words.

Then suddenly Reagan was all over him, pulling him up. "Vinny! Get on, man, come on!"  
_Don't do this._ But he couldn't talk.  
_You're bringing yourself in danger, you'll die, too! _But would that ever stop any cop? They were brothers.

Then they were both safe behind the wall. Deadly silence, mingled with strained breaths. So much blood.  
"Okay, alright, I got you, I got you! Hey, Vinny!" Reagan heaved him up, looking everywhere but not into his face. Vinny struggled for words. He knew that mood his partner was in now. That was one of the few occasions when he was more mature than Jamie. He had to clam the other one down before he choked on his desperation to help him. He already had.  
"Alright, alright. You gonna be okay." Hot, shivering fingers were pressed onto the wound at his throat. Even Jamie knew that he would die now.  
Yes. This was his day. Vinny's head shook with choked laughter. If only he'd known he'd die, he'd ordered the pancakes for breakfast.  
"Look at me!" Fading eyes met teary ones. "I ain't going anywhere, it's you and me, now come on, fight! Fight!" _Don't leave me_, his eyes pleaded. Still the eyes of a child. That was what Vinny had found disturbing the first time he had seen Jamie. A child's eyes… he just hoped Jamie would keep them after this. At least he had done everything he could do. And now he would go, and Jamie would be here, he wouldn't go anywhere, he'd promised. He wouldn't be alone

Jamie realized the change in his partner. "Hey, Vinny, stop smiling! Come on, stop, you…"  
"It's okay" Vinny croaked out, his eyes not finding Jamie anymore. "It's oaky, Reagan." Another look up to the blue sky, and oh, there was Reagan again. Looking at him filled with enough passion to burn the last ice away. His partner.  
"I told you. I told you this is the end." He smiled, hoping Jamie would join in. His partner. His friend.

His brother.

"It's okay." The world went darker.  
"Vinny!" His name, wasn't it. Whispered in fear and helplessness – and friendship. He'd been good today. He'd been good. It was okay.

"Vinny!" He felt Jamie breaking down over him, felt his tears.

"Vinny!"

It was okay.


End file.
